Miami Dolphins Saturday Rewind: Where is the pass rush?

For four weeks during Organized Team Activities this spring and four weeks this training camp, the buzzwords used in every article about Mike Nolan’s new defense were “blitzing” and “fast-paced” and “attacking” and “offensive mentality.”

One of the few times the Dolphins got any pressure on Matt Ryan / Bill Ingram, Post Staff

The question after three preseason games: When are the Dolphins going to show any of this?

The Dolphins have totaled just three sacks in three games, and only one by a starter – Randy Starks in the first game. They had zero sacks last night in an ugly 16-6 loss to Atlanta, and barely laid a finger on Matt Ryan, whose uniform probably doesn’t need to be washed before his team’s next game.

No question, Nolan has not opened up his playbook this preseason. The Dolphins are not blitzing much, trying to see if their front three (or four) can win their individual battles and get to the quarterback.

But so far, not so good. Josh Freeman: 4 for 4 for 53 yards and a touchdown. David Garrard: 6 for 8 for 79 yards and a touchdown. Ryan: 13 for 26 for 103 yards and a touchdown, and it would have been much, much worse if Ryan could hit the broad side of a barn. The Dolphins have been out-sacked 8-3.

“You’ve got to be able to get to the quarterback with four people in this league,” Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. “You’ve got to win your individual matchups, and we didn’t always do that.”

And yes, the lack of blitzes and creativity up front makes life harder on the secondary. But Yeremiah Bell didn’t want to use that as an excuse.

“We’re running things that we’re going to run throughout the season that we have to get better at,” Bell said. “The things that we’re doing are part of our package. Just because we’re not displaying it all doesn’t mean anything. We still got to execute those coverages.”

Even though the third preseason game is considered the most important, it is definitely not time to panic yet. Sparano singled out Cameron Wake as someone who got pressure on Ryan Saturday night. Charles Grant did a good job in the second game, laying two consecutive hits on Garrard, the second of which knocked the quarterback out of the game. Jared Odrick and Koa Misi have won their individual battles at times. Starks has broken into the backfield three or four times this preseason, while Kendall Langford finally made a big play on Saturday.

But Nolan’s attacking, fast-paced, offensive-minded and every-other-cliché-in-the-book defense won’t be any of those things if the Dolphins don’t start hitting the quarterback.

CB Vontae Davis
At times it seemed like Davis was the only player on defense to show up Friday night. He played just over two quarters, but put in a full night’s work: seven tackles (one for loss), a forced fumble and three passes defended. Last year’s first-round pick has had a fantastic preseason (12 tackles, three for loss) and has quickly become one of the surest tacklers on the team.

Vontae Davis put in a full night's work in just 2 1/2 quarters / AP

DT Paul Soliai and OLB Ikaika Alama-Francis
Nice game for both backups, who each finished with five tackles and helped contain Michael Turner to 47 yards on 16 carries. Soliai has had two solid games out of three this preseason, and perhaps could be showing signs of consistency that the Dolphins so desperately need out of him. Alama-Francis was around the ball all night and is doing a good job in his transition from defensive end to outside linebacker.

K Dan Carpenter
Carpenter, recently signed to a three-year contract extension, hit two more field goals and is now a perfect 5-for-5 this preseason. His 53-yarder in the first quarter was a career high, and would’ve been good from 63. Carpenter also made a nice touchdown-saving tackle on his second kickoff.

CB Nolan Carroll
Not for anything Carroll did in coverage, but because he made three tackles on special teams. This kid is a keeper, folks. He also has won the kickoff returner job. He wasn’t spectacular Friday night, averaging just 19 yards on two returns, but he also smartly took a knee twice in the end zone instead of risking a bad return.

WR Brandon Marshall
Because we have to give a game ball to SOMEONE on offense. Marshall was targeted eight times Friday night and came away with just three catches for 51 yards, but he also showed how dangerous he can be and how he can go off at any moment when he caught two passes for 46 yards, leading the Dolphins quickly down the field at the end of the first half.

Injury Update

Third string tight end Joey Haynos is going for an MRI today after injuring his right foot. He was on crutches and wore a soft cast in the locker room after the game. Haynos hopes it isn’t a season-ending injury, but didn’t know much last night. … Center Jake Grove wore an ice pack on his shoulder after the game. He left the game in the third quarter with the injury. … Karlos Dansby took an X-ray after taking a shot to the knee, but said he was OK. … Channing Crowder (hamstring?) and Quentin Moses (hamstring) didn’t play Friday night. It was Crowder’s second consecutive missed game.

Lineup moves

Sean Smith was replaced in the starting lineup by Jason Allen because Smith violated an unspecified team rule, Sparano said. Smith played in the “dime” spot in the first quarter before returning to his regular cornerback spot opposite Davis. Smith said he apologized to the Dolphins’ veterans and promised that whatever he did won’t happen again. … Grove returned to the starting center job after backing up Joe Berger the first two games. Grove played the first three series, but he and Berger alternated for the rest of the night, with both players taking snaps with the starters. … Carroll was the only player to return kickoffs and has won the job. Davone Bess has won the punt returner job, to little surprise. … Other than center, the offensive line is set – John Jerry at right guard and Richie Incognito at left guard. … New cornerback Benny Sapp, acquired in a trade on Wednesday, played on special teams and a few snaps at cornerback as he quickly gets indoctrinated with the defense. … Tim Dobbins once again started at inside linebacker in Crowder’s absence.

Quick Slants

— Can anyone catch the football? We counted five more drops Friday night, not even including the ball Marshall had knocked out of his hands by a defender. Unofficially, the Dolphins have 11 drops through three preseason games, including four by Marshall. And this time, the Dolphins couldn’t use rain and mud as an excuse. “We just need to concentrate and focus,” quarterback Chad Henne said. “I have 100 percent confidence in our receivers and that they’re going to make catches in the game. We’re going to miss a couple here and there, but we just got to limit those opportunities.”

— Speaking of Henne, he was not exactly at his finest Friday night. He finished just 10-of-22 for 123 yards, a sack, his first interception of the preseason and a 44.3 passer rating. The Dolphins scored just three points in his six series, with five punts. Henne also looked flustered during the blitz, unable to get rid of the football quickly enough. Certainly the drops hurt his stats, but some of the drops were on passes that Henne could have thrown better, too. One pass he definitely could have thrown better was an interception in the end zone at the end of the second quarter to kill a promising 2-minute drill. Henne locked onto Anthony Fasano, who was targeted five times but finished with just one catch, and the Falcons swatted the pass away before intercepting it. “Just a forced ball right there,” Henne said. “I just need to understand the situations – leave there with three points and go in the half knowing that we’re only down four points. Just need to make a better decision.”

— Marlon Moore is definitely a keeper. He earned snaps with the starters last night and didn’t look out of place. In fact, he looked pretty good running for 12 yards on an end around. Roberto Wallace had three catches for 28 yards, while Patrick Turner had one for 10. Could Wallace beat out Turner for the final receiver spot?

— Miami was 2-of-12 on third down and 0-for-2 in the Red Zone.

— Atlanta held the ball for 33:08, was 10-for-19 on third down and 2-for-3 in the Red Zone.

— Strange night for Ryan. Missed on 10 of his first 13 passes and had severe accuracy issues, especially throwing to his left. But finished the game completing 10 of his final 13 passes, picking the Dolphins apart.

— The loss snapped Miami’s nine-game preseason win streak.

— The offensive line didn’t get much push, either. The Dolphins rushed for just 46 yards on 18 carries, but the running backs were even worse, gaining just 20 yards on 15 carries (1.33 ypc). Moore rushed for 12 yards on an end around, Chad Pennington scrambled for 9 yards and Pat White scrambled for 5 yards. “It’s not like they got eight or nine (in the box),” Sparano said. “We didn’t run it well enough. That’s a shame on us.”

Because Dolfans need a pick-me-up today / AP

— The kickoff coverage was once again a concern. Two of the Falcons’ three returns went 30-plus yards, and Carpenter was forced to make a touchdown-saving tackle on Eric Weems’ 36-yard return.

— Want more negativity? How about the penalties? A holding call on Jake Long wipes out a third-down conversion. A penalty for 12 men on the field and one for encroachment on consecutive plays, giving the Falcons 10 free yards. Delay of game and intentional grounding calls on Pennington. A personal foul on Charlie Anderson. In total, nine penalties for 75 yards, and that doesn’t include the penalties that Atlanta declined.

— Sparano summarized Friday’s performance thusly: “We played sloppy, inconsistent. … We just didn’t finish. There was something always unexecuted one place or the other. … I just told the players in the locker room that this is not acceptable. … The penalties, we turned the ball over one time. Those kind of things, it’s just sloppy inconsistencies. That’s what concerns me.”

— On the plus side, the Dolphins didn’t have a punt blocked for the first time this preseason.

— Bell, who had two tackles and an interception, said he felt the secondary had its best game of the preseason. “Not saying that we played outstanding, but we did a lot of good things,” he said.

— Allen, though, didn’t prove much in his one quarter of action, finishing with just one tackle and allowing White’s 18-yard touchdown catch. With Sapp’s arrival, Allen is definitely in trouble.

— Welcome to South Florida, Tim Dobbins. The Nashville native and former San Diego Charger started for Crowder for the second straight game and admitted he was “definitely a little winded” after finishing with six tackles. “I have no excuses for why I was winded,” he said. “But it’s something I definitely have to fix.”

— Marshall on his catch-and-fumble that was reversed to an incomplete pass: “I felt like I caught it, but as soon as I brought it in the guy made a great play of knocking that ball out. It’s a drill that those DBs do and he got the ball out.”

— Smith, on temporarily losing his starting cornerback job: “You’re never cool with it, but you got to talk to Coach Sparano about it.” Later, he added, “It was just something minor, nothing big and dramatic. I definitely know what I did was wrong, and it’s not going to happen again.”

— Smith was burned – quite badly – by Roddy White on a double move, and the only thing keeping White out of the end zone on the play was a horribly overthrown pass by Ryan. “I was staring at the quarterback too long,” Smith said. “I wasn’t making my read. Just a little mental mistake.”

Marlon Moore slips through the defense for a 12-yard end-around / Miami Herald

— Rookie free agent Micah Johnson continues to impress, finishing the game with four tackles on defense and another on special teams despite playing slightly more than 1 ½ quarters. Though he’s playing with the backups, Johnson seems to have a nose for the ball.

— Yes, that was White at the end of the game, taking snaps instead of Tyler Thigpen. The Dolphins actually let White run a few real plays this time, and he finished a respectable 4-for-4 for 27 yards, plus one rush for five yards and a sack. White may get more snaps against Dallas, but it doesn’t mean much for his long-term future with the team.

— Lousaka Polite failed to convert a fourth-and-1 run for the first time in his Dolphins career.

— Nice game for Ricky Williams out of the backfield, catching five passes for 43 yards. Ronnie Brown also had one for 19 and Rolly Lumbala had one for 14.

Quotes of the Day

1. “It brought back a lot of memories, but at the same time it’s probably one of the strangest, weirdest feelings I ever had on the football field.”